Food Safety Standard Setting Priorities

Emerging Issues in a Global Environment

Codex 50th Anniversary Events

San José, Costa Rica

Samuel Godefroy, Ph.D.

Director General,Food Directorate, Health Canada

Vice-Chair, Codex Alimentarius Commission

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Outline

�Current trends driving food standard setting�Emerging issues to be addressed by food safety

regulators, resulting from these trends

�Mechanisms of collaboration and work-sharing opportunities

�Codex Alimentarius Commission

�Areas suggesting future engagement and collaboration �Challenges and future directions

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Trends Influencing Emerging Issues

� The Food Supply Chain remains amongst the most complex industrial supply chains

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� Rapid distribution and production :

� Leading US yogurt manufacturer goes from plant to retail in all 48 US states in <48 hours

� Quick serve restaurants can go from supplier to consumption in 24-96 hours for primary products (burgers, chicken, salad)

� Bottled water has an effective shelf life of ~10 days for 80% of production

Some trends in food production

� Possible challenges when food safety incidents occur : immediateaction is needed to contain consequences

� Importance of preventive measures, anticipation and swift response

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Trends Influencing Emerging Issues

�Foods are amongst the most traded commodities

Local Food Supply Global Food Supply

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35 Products60 Countries

5 Continents

..... In 1 Box

This Man Delivers…

Exerpt : Presentation by Dr. Paul Brent - FSANZ

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In Just One Pizza!

Dough And then the toppings.......� Canada, USA � France, UK, Poland, USA Cheese from......Yeast Chicken from................ � UK, Ireland, Germany Chilli Peppers from .......Salt Anchovies from............� UK, France, China Pepperoni from............Sugar Vegetables from ..........� Brazil, Indonesia, Jamaica� PhilippinesTomato paste� Greece, France, NetherlandsHerbs� Greece, Italy, spain� Kenya, Asia, Tanzania,� Morocco

Exerpt : Presentation by Dr. Paul Brent - FSANZ

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Globalization and CanadaLocal Issues

National Issues

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Information age

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Impact of Globalisation is further expressed in the context of some emerging issues such as

Economically Motivated Adulteration (EMA)

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Econmically MotivatedAdulteration (EMA)

� “ Fraudulent, intentional substitution or addition of a substance in a product for the purpose of increasing the apparent value of the product or reducing the cost of its production , i.e., for economic gain” (US FDA working definition) = Food Fraud

� Intended not to be detected, therefore, typically does not result in public health consequences

(Everstine and Kennedy, NCFPD, March 2012)

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Types of EMA

� Dilution� Substitution (Europe Horse Meat issue, 2013 ;

Sudan dyes in spices/Chili)� Artificially increasing weight� Transshipment, disguising true country-of-origin� Port shopping� Mislabelling, counterfeit, etc.Spink and Moyer, JFS Vol.76, No. 9, 2011)

� When EMA “turns bad”, health repercussions can be expected

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Examples EMA incidents reported in the US

(Everstine et al. 2013)

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Trends Influencing Emerging Issues

�Changing Consumer demands / Interests : � Re-merging Pathogens / New Vehicles

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Consumer Interests are changing : New « pathogen /vehicle » pairs /

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Older pathogens re-emerging in new vehicles

Pathogen VehiclesVTEC Melons, raw clover sproutsSalmonella Tomatoes, melons, mango,

sprouts, J. peppers, cucumbersCyclospora Raspberries, basil, snow

peas, cilantroC. botulinum Carrot juiceCampylobacter Snow peasShigella Sugar snaps, baby cornHepatitis A Watercress, green

onions, semi-dried tomatoes, frozen berries

Norovirus Fresh-cut fruitListeria Cantaloupe, diced celery

L. Harris, 2006; Kozak et al., in press; Nuorti et al. , 2004; Löfdahl et al., 2009

Produceincreasinglybecoming as a new vehicle

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Combination of effectsWhat’s known

• Cronobacter sakazakii emerged among neonates, in part from presence in powdered infant formula

• A variety of other Enterobacteriacea (e.g., Citrobacerfreundii, Serriatia marcescens, Enterobacter hormaechei) have been occassionally implicated in bacteremia, meningitis, and necrotizing colitis in neonates

• Powdered nutritional supplements are increasingly used with seniors and geriatric patients

• Population is ageing in mant countries (the population number of individuals >80 years is the fastest growing segment of the population in the United States)

Should we be monitoring assisted living care facilities for incidences of Enterobacteriaceae infections?

New foods/vehicles for an increasingly vulnerable popu lation

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Trends Influencing Emerging Issues

�Climate Change :

� Different Patterns of � Natural toxins

� Pathogens

� Novel crops : e.g. drought resistant

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� Innovation in the Food Sector:

� Innovative (packaging) materials / chemicals used in conjunction with food production - Use of recycled materials

� Development of (new) fresh products (to preserve nutrition integrity)� Innovative ingredients used in functional foods

Another trend in food production

� Possible introduction of chemical hazards� Changes of food vehicles for certain pathogens� Issues related to known and novel functional ingredient s: « how

much is too much »

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Trends Influencing Emerging Issues

�Limited public funding / Constrained resources:

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Science-Based Standards : the Food Code

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� Established in 1963 by FAO and WHO:

intergovernmental body that elaborates food

standards under the joint FAO/WHO Food Standards

Programme:

� Develops harmonized international food standards, guidelines

and codes of practice with the objective :

� To protect consumers’ health

� To ensure fair practices in the food trade

� Promotes coordination of all food standards work by

international governmental and non-governmental

organisations

� An international focal point for informed discussions

on food related issues

Codex Alimentarius Commission : Raison d’être

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Codex addressed a number of emerging challenges

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Areas requiring further consideration for collaborations

�Consistent Guidance to Industry on « softly regulated areas »

�Applications with high innovation rate:

�e.g. Food contact applications

�Analytical methods used for validation of preventive controls

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General requirements and common criteria

Common scientific advice

Community of regulators/ Industry self regulatory bodies

Acceptable lists of acceptable applications made available publicly and updated regularly

Examples of future action/collaboration : food contact applications, processing aids, methods

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Future Directions

� Promote the responsiveness of Codex standards and their uptake

� Sustain Scientific advice and promote collaboration wit hother science assessment organisations:

� Leverage resources� Innovative sources of funding

� Promote contribution of developing countries, to ensu reworldwide representativity of standards

� Promote collaboration with other international standar d setting bodies

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Canadian contribution to the Future of Codex

� Enhance Canadian active contribution to codex standa rd setting :

� Active leadership for standard development withdomestic implications e.g. standards for mycotoxins i n food, microbiological criteria, discretionary fortifi cation, nutrition labelling etc.

� Enhance support to scientific advice underpinning Codex standard setting

� Maintain and enhance support to the participation of developingcountries through contribution to the trust fund and capacity building initiatives (e.g. led by WHO/FAO)

� Continue to use Codex standards as a basis for nati onal food regulatoryrequirements, while adapting them to the Canadian cont ext

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Codex has contributedand will continue to play a key role in further propagating a CULTURE of foodsafety worldwide

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